LEE classic turret

[PatMarlin]

I finally bought one of these turret presses with the safety prime setup, and at first was not very pleased. I'm a big LEE fan cept for all the cheezee-est of the plastic gizmos and the safety prime sure looked like junk.

After I got it put together, it functions fine, and there seems to be no real strain on the plastic parts. Time will tell, but sometimes you wish they went the extra mile and made it like a Dillon part. I would pay more for it.

Problem I did have was with the Classic press priming lever as it would bind up under the shell holder and lock the press up. Nothing like the frustration of buying a new heavy peice of equipment and have it not work.

Got a small file out, and removed some burrs here and there but that didn't help. Then I noticed the casting on the base of the press where the priming arm hit's the base was offset, and had a hump causing the arm to tilt out of alignment.

Took a file to that and squared the base up and it sovled the problem.

My other complaint is it doesn't have the nice matt finish red that's on my Classic single stage. It has cheezy red paint that doesn't match other Lee shades of red.

Oh well it looks to be a good unit though. After a few thousand rounds and dust it will probably look better..

[Tom-n8ies]

I had the same problem with the primer arm on mine running into the shell holder on the downstroke. The arm was not tipping in early enough in the downstroke causing the primer cup to drag on the underside of the shell holder at the bottom of the downstroke so I took it out and drilled a hole in the bottom and press fit a short piece of #12 solid copper wire into it. Did it to the other primer arm too, now it works like it is supposed to. Somewhere on the web there is a picture showing a threaded set screw doing the same thing.
I will post a picture of my modified primer arms later today.

tom

[lathesmith]

I'm a big fan of my Classic Turret press. After getting it AND getting the hang of the priming system I dumped (almost) all my other presses. It sure simplified things for me. Most of my shooting is revolver and single shot so I don't burn huge quantities of ammo, and this presses' output is sufficient for my needs. Be patient with the priming system, once you get the knack it really works effortless. The hollow ram is what really gets me excited; I can load inside now because that spent primer mess is drastically reduced. What a great idea!
lathesmith

[PatMarlin]

Yeah the two humps in the casting on the base are off center, and the one hump to the left had a shoulder on the inside, so I filed a flat 90dgr corner in it, and that allowed the primer arm to sit in it's correct position.

I really need a new reloading room and bigger bench. I have maxed this out..

[Tom-n8ies]

I had the same problem with the primer arm on mine running into the shell holder on the downstroke. The arm was not tipping in early enough in the downstroke causing the primer cup to drag on the underside of the shell holder at the bottom of the downstroke so I took it out and drilled a hole in the bottom and press fit a short piece of #12 solid copper wire into it. Did it to the other primer arm too, now it works like it is supposed to. Somewhere on the web there is a picture showing a threaded set screw doing the same thing.
I will post a picture of my modified primer arms later today.

tom

Here is a picture of my modificated primer arm.



I still don't have 100% reliability with the saftey prime, still loose one or two primers per 100. I think the washer (spacer is about .100 too thick. )
Lee really did a great job on the Classic Turret

tom

[utk]

Yeah the two humps in the casting on the base are off center, and the one hump to the left had a shoulder on the inside, so I filed a flat 90dgr corner in it, and that allowed the primer arm to sit in it's correct position.

I really need a new reloading room and bigger bench. I have maxed this out..

I had exactly the same problem and e-mailed LEE:


My Question) The instructions say that the top of the ram can be rotated for
the priming arm to center between the two "bumps" on the base. Well,
my ram head doesn't rotate, it seems to be pinned. The priming arm
hits the left "bump" slightly and if I operate the handle too fast
the primer sticks against the bottom of the shellholder. If I do it
slowly, the priming arm has time to flip under the shellholder
without the primer snagging against the shell holder. (Don't know if
it's this misalignment that causes some primers to snag, though...)

Lee's Answer) Try inserting a 1/4 allen wrench, or a flat blade screwdriver into
the slot for leverage. The shellholder insert has built-in friction
so it doesn't come loose (or move) unless you want it to.

So I inserted a 1/4 Allen wrench into the slot and it worked fine, now it's centered between the bumps...

[jawjaboy]

The safety prime does take a little getting used to. Had mine well over a year, no complaints or problems to mention. Excellent press IMO.

[PatMarlin]

Lee's Answer) Try inserting a 1/4 allen wrench, or a flat blade screwdriver into
the slot for leverage. The shellholder insert has built-in friction
so it doesn't come loose (or move) unless you want it to.

So I inserted a 1/4 Allen wrench into the slot and it worked fine, now it's centered between the bumps...

Why doesn't LEE fix their castings, and get their little elves to grind the hump problem and repaint them instead of sticking us with their problem?...

THe humps don't even need to be there. The single stage classic doesn't have them. All you're doing with the allen wrench is provding a flat surface.

For as something as potentially dangerous as primer feeding, they should recall these at their expense...

[PatMarlin]

I'm painting mine blue in protest..

[VTDW]

[Nueces]

Happy New Year, fellas. Do the Lee presses use RCBS-type shellholders or proprietary Lee designs?

Mark

[PatMarlin]

Happy Texas New Year!!

Standard shell holders of your liking..

[floodgate]

Nueces:

It is the Lee Hand Priming tool that takes the proprietary Lee shellholders; those for the loading presses are standard one like RCBS, Lyman, etc., etc.

floodgate

[Nueces]

Thanks, guys. I'm getting clear before advising a buddy on a new loading setup.

Mark

[PatMarlin]

I worked up a load for my wife's .308 win last night, and I must say I'm liking the press.

I had to de-prime and chamfer some once fired brass, so I deprimed on the my single stage press, then turned the length on the cases and chamfered.

Then I place a powder measure on the single stage, and primed on the turret press, moved the case over and charged it on the single stage. Back to the turret to expand the case, set the bullet, then factory crimp.

I like the primer feed. Never missed a beat, and I guess with all LEE plastics if you wear it out, it' cheap to replace.

This is so much easier and faster than the single stage operations. For the faster production of course I like the Dillon, but that takes time to set up, and the LEE turret is a real fast setup for working up loads.

Price of extra turrets is nice too. I'm happy, but when it gets warmer out, I'm still going to paint it blue, and send the pic to LEE with my complaint..

[creekwalker]

Pat,

I think that the Lee Classic Cast Turret press is the best press Lee has ever produced and recommed it highly. Mine resides in good company on my bench with a 550B and RockChucker/PB. Hope you have good service from your newest addition to the family.

Creekwalker

[Adam10mm]

Check out the [terrible] caliber change video I made tonight. Swapped out turret, shellholder, primer arm, primer feed. I took it off and put it back on to simulate the other caliber stuff laid next to the press. I dropped the primer arm but still took only 18 seconds. I didn't count the powder measure change as I consider that to be a component swap because you need to calibrate it, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEtTd551JIA

[PatMarlin]

OK that looks pretty good, but can you do it blind folded while eating a popsicle?

That would be some real entertainment..

[Lloyd Smale]

if im not loading on a progessive press i use a hand priming tool. I think about all the priming set ups on presses are awkward to use and all require you handle the primers with your hands and you risk primer contamination. A lee priming tool is cheap and works great in my opinon. Use one and youll never go back to priming on your press.

[utk]

The priming system for the Classic Turret (and for the Classic Cast) is just like the one for a progressive press. No handling of separate primers, they are all dumped into the round tray and feeds down a chute to a handy dispenser with a button. Works just fine!